Hook and eye



(No Model.)

K. STEPHENS.

Now by marriage K. BURT.

HOOK AND EYE.

No. 544,013. Patented Aug. 1895.

of zazvaer .5.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KATHARINE STEPHENS, (NOW BY MARRIAGE KATHARINE BORT,) OF ELGIN,

ILLINOIS. I

HOOK ANDEYE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,013, dated August 6, 1895; Application filed April 2, 1894. Serial No. 506,134. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, KATHARINE STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Elgin, county of Kane, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hooks and Eyes, of which the following is a specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference-letters indicate like parts, Figure 1 is myimproved hook and eye. Fig. 2 is the same, showing the manner of attaching the same to the garment. Fig. 3 is a modification of the same. effect of a Newey hook in actual use.

It is well known to all those skilled in the art that garments usually secured by hooks and eyes are subjected to a constant or varying strain at those points which soon causes the thread securing the hooks and eyes to the garments to become loosened. The cloth is also pulled out of shape, as shown in Fig. 4. The meeting edges of the garments are thus separated or pulled apart'and the cloth is 'wrinkled. This is very annoying to the wearer, as it ruins the appearance of the garment and notes the end of the term it can be worn with any satisfaction. It is then necessary either to cast aside the garment entirely or turn it over to a skilled person for repairs, which are both difficult and expensive. The benefit of such repairs is but temporary, and in a Very short time the appearance of the garment is as bad as before, necessitating more repairs, or, as is usual with those able to procure new garments, an entire abandonment of the article.

' The object of my invention is to obviate these difficulties.

.strain is evenly distributed over a comparatively large section of the fabric, and at the same time by reason of the peculiar construction of the hook the thread will not work loose and allow'the hook to slip out of its Fig. 4 shows the original position and thus disarrange the garment.

I prefer to construct my hook out of a single piece of wire bent into the proper form, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but a cut hook having the same general form would be within the scope of my invention.

In the drawings, A A represent the loopsby means of which such hooks and eyes are usually attached to the garment.

B is the body of the hook or eye.

0 is the lip of the hook, and D D are my improved extensions, by means of which the hook or eye is additionally secured to the garment.

The manner of attaching to the garment is plainly shown in Fig. 2, the thread being passedthrough the fabric under the extension and thence up over the extension, as shown.

This is very easily done even when steels or bones are used to stiifen the edge of the garment. As thus secured the constant pulling of the garment fails to loosen the thread or to allow it to slip upon the extension. The consequence is the garment retains its original neat appearance and condition and lasts much longer with entire satisfaction in this respect.

I am aware that the great necessity for an improved hook and eye to obviate the difficulties described has caused numerous efiorts to be made to invent such, and that numerous patents have been issued for such devices; but I am not aware that a hook or eye embodying the improvements I haveinvented has ever been'known heretofore.

The book shown in Fig. 4E, perhaps, illustrates as well as any the efforts in this direction. This figure shows in dotted lines the position the hook first occupied, while the fulllines show the position of the hook after a little use. It is very difficult to pass the thread properly through the eyes 17, because of the presence of the steel or bone beneath the surface of the cloth. The constant pull and strain on the garment'loosens the thread sufficiently to allow the loop of the eye I) to slip through the thread from the front to the rear part of the eye, as shown in the drawings.

This permits the hook to project beyond the edge of the garment and allows the meeting parts to separate or gap. The fabric at the rear at eyes e is wrinkled and drawn out of shape and the looks of the garment are ruined.

I am aware of and do not claim the invention set forth and described in the patents to Seymour, Nos. 506,737 and 506,738; Bates and Collins, Nos. 489,520 and 509,347, or :Newey, No. 393,656, as none of said patents 'show or claim my invention.

It is obvious my invention can be applied to the hook alone, to the eye alone, or to both, as preferred, and I consequently do not limit myself to its use with either or with both.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The hereindescribed hook or eye consisting of a single piece of metal of the proper form, having loops at the rear part for attaching to the garment, and having near the front part lateral T-shaped arms extending substantially at right angles from the body of the hook or eye so that the thread may be passed through the fabric and over said arms in such manner as to firmly bind them to the garment and prevent any movement of 'the device upon the fabric; substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein described hook or eye, con sisting of a single piece of metal of the proper form, having loops at the rear part for attaching to the garment, and having near the front part arms extending from the body of the hook or eye in a forwardly bending curve, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 3. The herein described hook or eye consisting of a single piece of metal of proper form provided with means at the rear end for attaching to the garmenh and having near the front part arms extending from the body of the hook or eye so that the thread may be passed through the fabric and over said arms in such a manner as to firmly bind them to the garment and prevent any m ovement of the device upon the fabric.

KATHARINE STEPHENS.

Witnesses:

ANNIE S. REYNOLDS, W. M. CARTHELL. 

